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Chapter 10
Once Qiao Shao came back to his senses, he looked at He Shen."What did you just say?"
He Shen hadn't looked at the food in the plastic bag, "I'm hungry."
Qiao Shao rolled his eyes, "The previous sentence."
He Shen knew which statement he meant and asked, "Why, do you like Lou Xiao?"
"As if!" Qiao Shao clarified irritably.
He Shen said, "There you have it then. Yu Yuanxi asked whether you like Lou Xiao or He Shen. If you don't like Lou Xiao, then by process of elimination, the answer would be He Shen."
The way he said it, made it sound like he wasn't He Shen!
Qiao Shao was so angry he wanted to stab him with his chopsticks."Stop talking nonsense!"
He Shen's mood brightened."Then how would you settle this question?"
Qiao Shao said coldly, "I don't like either."
"Oh..." In a flash, He Shen continued the topic, "Then who do you like?"
At this point, Qiao Shao didn't take the word 'like' very seriously. He didn't think about what kind of 'like' Yu Yuanxi meant. The pure and simple Young Master Qiao simply thought it was the simple kind of like between friends, classmates, and brothers.
——In short, who did he like playing with the most.
Who did Qiao Shao want to play with?
Of course, that would have to be...
"Chen Su." Qiao Shao gave the optimal solution.
He Shen's eyes were full of smiles."Why?"
Do you still need to ask?
Qiao Shao patted the book next to him and happily said, "He's a class committee member, and he studies really well."
He Shen caught the crucial point, "Just because he studies well?"
"Yes!" Qiao Shao said, "I'm here to study hard, and of course I'd hang out with hard-working students."
"So that's it." He Shen murmured.
Qiao Shao didn't hear clearly, "Huh?"
He Shen raised his head and looking into his eyes, said, "In that case, I predict that in the near future, you're going to be totally infatuated with a certain someone."
Although Qiao Shao now heard him clearly, he still didn't understand, "What and what?"
He Shen was in a good mood. He opened the plastic bag and said, "You'll find out soon enough. Let's eat."
"Who?" Qiao Shao's curiosity was aroused."Isn't Chen Su at the top of our class?"
He Shen took out the boxed lunch from the plastic bag and said, "No."
"Then who, Lin Su? Mo Xiaoxiao?"
He'd taken the time to look at the class' last monthly exam results. He remembered everyone in the top ten!
"What seems far away is actually close at hand." said He Shen while pointing to himself.
Qiao Shao had been brimming with curiosity but now it was all drained away, "Forget it. During last month's exam, you were first -from the bottom."
He Shen said, "I had something to do that time, so I didn't take the exam."
At the time there was an International Math Olympiad competition, and he had gone to win honor for their school.
Qiao Shao said coldly, "There's still more than a month until the semester's final exam. I'll wait for you turn over from being first from the bottom to being first on the top of the class."
Qiao Shao came halfway in the middle of the semester. Now it was May, and he estimated that the end of term exams would be sometime in mid-June. It was coming up soon.
He Shen pulled apart the bamboo chopsticks."It can only be first in class?"
"Yes!" Qiao Shao was settled, "It can only be first in the class!"
Neither second nor third! That'll show you for being so cocky!
He Shen said unhurriedly, "That's going to be a bit difficult."
Qiao Shao smirked in his heart."Weren't you talking big just now? And now you're going to compromise?"
He Shen looked up at him: "You want the first in the entire city to just be first in the class. Aren't you asking for the impossible?"
Qiao Shao: "........................"
He Shen glanced at the dish and said, "This braised beef is pretty good. Eat more."
Qiao Shao swallowed a large piece of beef and calmed down, "Hot air! You're nothing but full of hot air!"
All the cattle in the city would float in the air from all the hot air you're blowing!
He Shen gave him another piece of meat, "Why are you so unconvinced?"
Qiao Shao ate another piece and said, "I believe you. I believe you'll be the first in the country."
He Shen, "It's not like I haven't done it before."
He'd placed first in several national junior division competitions before.
Now Qiao Shao was convinced that he was a giant blowhard!
What 'first in the country'?
The test papers weren't standardized. Even for the National College Entrance Exams, no one would dare say they were the top scorer in the entire country.
Qiao Shao was too lazy to expose him.
The two finished lunch, trading quips.
Lou Xiao had bought two servings of rice, and the dishes were very good. It was many times better than Qiao Shao's four yuan meal at the canteen.
They had completely finished off their food. He Shen looked at him."You eat quite a lot. Why are you so thin?"
Qiao Shao suddenly realized that he had indeed eaten quite a lot.
A large portion of braised beef was in his stomach, and he'd eaten a whole box of rice. He also drank a half-serving of mushroom soup.
He had a bad appetite at home. If he ate even just a fifth of a portion of rice, Aunt Wu would be bursting with joy.
"It was very delicious..." Qiao Shao explained."This beef was delicious."
The beef went very well with rice, especially with the sound of a certain someone bragging in the background.
What Qiao Shao said jabbed at He Shen, his expression turned a little complicated.
——This little shorty was so pitiful. Has he never eaten beef before?
Thankfully, Qiao Shao couldn't ready minds, otherwise he would have slapped He Shen's face with a slice of premium-grade Kobe beef worth several thousand yuan.
No one ate in the classroom during noon break. Originally, there had been a few girls who were secretly sneaking glances, but because the aura around He Shen was too strong and unbridled, they didn't dare come close to tease them and they could only go to the canteen for lunch.
Qiao Shao had eaten and drank his fill. When He Shen was packing up the trash, he asked, "How much was the meal? And the medicine too, I..."
He hadn't finished talking when Teacher Tang arrived.
Tang Yu immediately saw Qiao Shao and came over to ask, "How's your ankle? Would you like to go home and rest?"
Hearing the words 'go home', Qiao Shao was immediately tense."No need! Teacher, I'm much better now!"
Tang Yu liked Qiao Shao's enthusiasm for learning, but he was also afraid of having his injury worsen."You don't have to endure here. You can go home and rest for a day or two."
Qiao Shao was afraid that instead of going back for just a day or two, he would be going back for good.
He said, "There's really no need. I don't want to go home..."
He Shen then said, "I think it's alright. It shouldn't be anything too serious if it doesn't swell. It should be okay for him to listen in class."
Tang Yu nodded and agreed. He asked Qiao Shao again, "Ah yes, what are your parents' contact numbers? I didn't see it when I checked your records."
Qiao Shao's nerves were tense. He left it out on purpose, fearing that the teachers would call his dad.
"My dad isn't always at home, and I can't get through to his mobile phone." This wasn't a lie. President Qiao was constantly in meetings. During the day, his personal assistant was in charge of his mobile phone.
Of course Qiao Zongmin went home every night, but Qiao Shao rarely called him.
Tang Yu was surprised, "I see... then your mother..."
He had just mentioned the word "mother" when Qiao Shao's face went white as snow. The look in his eyes turned ashen as though he'd become empty and soulless.
Tang Yu was unable to continue.
He Shen's brows furrowed. He changed the topic and said, "It's getting late, Teacher. I'll take him back to the dorms for noon break."
"O-okay." Tang Yu recovered his senses."Go on, the bell for noon break will ring soon."
"Qiao Shao?" He Shen called out to him in a low voice.
Qiao Shao snapped out of it. Color slowly returned back to his face, but he couldn't suppress the red tinge around his eyes.
He Shen felt his heart constrict and didn't ask much.
Every family goes through its own problems. He Shen knew that better than anyone else. It was because he understood this that he was extra concerned when he saw this pitiful kid.
There were some pains that only those who have tasted it, understood.
At the dormitory building, Qiao Shao was frightened by He Shen's words."If you don't answer, I'll carry you up the stairs."
Qiao Shao turned his head in horror, looking at He Shen like he was the devil.
Seeing that he had finally returned to normal, He Shen also breathed a sigh of relief, "Either I carry you in my arms or on my back. If you don't answer by the count of three, ..."
"No need!" Qiao Shao said quietly.
He Shen said, "Helping you climb up the stairs would take too long."
Qiao Shao leaned closer to him and whispered, "With so many students, if I let you carry me on your back, I won't have any face to show anymore!"
He Shen said, "Then I'll carry you."
Qiao Shao's liver hurt."Then you better prepare my grave!"
He Shen looked at him with a surprised expression, "You're not even a girl but you're still afraid of PDA?"
"This isn't a question of PDA, okay?" Qiao Shao said seriously."This is a question of dignity!"
He Shen was dumbfounded but was also highly amused.
Qiao Shao insisted, "Just go back, I can just hold onto the handrail and climb up by myself."
"Let's go." He Shen supported his little arm and said, "It's up to your dorm room or bust. I've already accepted this task from Lao Tang."
Qiao Shao saw that he was no longer up to anything bad and they concentrated on climbing up the stairs.
As soon as they reached the second floor, they met a group of rowdy boys.
They didn't know which class' joker it was that was so bold as to run around with a garbage bag in hand.
Qiao Shao felt that he needed to watch out for that garbage bag, but unfortunately his leg was injured. The spirit is willing but the heart is weak, and thus...
The garbage bag was pasted against his chest.
The boy was startled. He turned around and was flabbergasted to see a large vegetable stain on his fellow student's chest."I'm, I'm so sorry..."
Qiao Shao: "..."
He Shen frowned, "What are you doing running around in the corridor?" He was afraid of aggravating Qiao Shao's foot so he hadn't dared to pull him away just now.
The boy apologized, ashamed to death.
Although Qiao Shao was upset, he also knew that the boy didn't mean for it to happen. He said, "It's okay... it doesn't matter."
The boy said, "Take it off and let me do your laundry!"
Qiao Shao didn't want to be exposed in broad daylight; he shook his head and said, "No need, I can wash it myself."
The boy again said, "Then at least let me pay you..."
"No need, no need." Qiao Shao waved it away."I can still wear it after I wash it."
He then looked at He Shen and said, "Let's go, I can have a bath when we go up."
The boy's face was looked completely embarrassed and he could only apologize profusely.
The two finally managed to go up to the fifth floor, and there was no one in the dorm room
Qiao Shao looked down at his clothes, feeling dejected.
He Shen asked, "Where are your clothes?"
Qiao Shao looked at him quietly.
He Shen was startled, "It can't be that you just have that one shirt."
This was too miserable.
Qiao Shao's eyes turned even more resentful."There is one more. That Pure Love Women's Shirt that you tricked me into buying."
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The author has something to say:
Really, believe it or not, Brother Shen, right now, is a straight man. [covers face]
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Translator's note:
Some readers might have caught that there seems to be something strange with the timeline."Didn't Qiao Shao enter at the start of the term?" Yes, he did. Originally. But the author change it in this chapter to QS entering in mid-May (near the end of the school year) and kind of forgot to change a lot of the earlier statements that made it seem like he entered during the start of the term. [i. e. The teacher saying that the lessons were easy bec they just started so he can rest at home. ; The very clean textbook conversation with He Shen. ]
So... it can be a bit jarring but please don't let it bother you too much. The overall impact of this change is minimal, albeit jarring. It's the price we readers pay because authors are forced to come out with a chapter everyday to keep up with demand. The Chinese FreeWebNovel industry is cutthroat.
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